Many Americans are listening to President Obama's second inaugural address today. Is it a good indicator of his second term goals? Plus, Congress may postpone the debt ceiling deadline. We'll also examine why the flu has been spreading rapidly in Califonia, discuss TSA's new body scanners, and review how music has affected social change. All that and more on AirTalk.
President Obama’s second inauguration
Today marks President Barack Obama’s second inaugural address. While the first time was certainly a historic moment, not just for the man but for the whole country, this one marks a momentous occasion as well. Obama just fought his way through a nasty election cycle to secure his second term, and the country has a very important four years ahead of it.
This will be complicated by the fact that Americans, both citizens and politicians in Washington, are more hyper-partisan than ever. Obama steered the country away from going over the fiscal cliff, but only after countless rounds of bargaining, most of which completely stalled. Next month, another debate will culminate over the debt ceiling. Congress’s approval rating is at its lowest point ever. The media has become a 24/7 feeding frenzy. There’s talk of potential Supreme Court nominees. And the issues keep piling up—immigration reform, gun control, the rollout of Obama’s Affordable Healthcare Act—all of which will require Obama’s complete strength and effort to see through.
So how did this speech serve as an indicator of the man’s second term? Was it reassuring in any way? And how does it compare to his last inaugural address? How about the addresses of other presidents in the past?
Guest:
Aaron Blake, political reporter for The Washington Post
David Birdsell, Dean of the Baruch College School of Public Affairs
GOP about-face on debt ceiling sequel
Congress will vote Wednesday on a bill to extend the limit for the U.S. debt ceiling that will allow the deadline to be postponed until May 18. The legislation contains no spending cuts, a sharp turnaround from previous Republican demands that dollar-for-dollar cuts be applied to any raise in the debt ceiling.
GOP support for the bill may come as a welcome surprise after months of debt ceiling disagreement – but some critical Democrats see Republican backing as a “gimmick,” or an overture. The proposed bill contains no actual amounts, but rather suspends the debt ceiling limitations until May 18. Pushing back the deadline again gives party leaders more time to negotiate – some say that it will give Republicans leverage against President Obama in the spending cut battles that will occur between now and the new debt ceiling deadline.
What do you think of the debt ceiling? Is pushing the deadline back to May a good short-term solution, or is it part of a political game? Will it be an effective stop-gap measure? How should Democrats and Republicans compromise on this issue? Should increases to the debt ceiling go hand-in-hand with spending cuts?
Guests:
David Mark, Editor-in-Chief, Politix
Lisa Mascaro, Congressional Reporter, Los Angeles Times
Critical time for flu bug in California
The worst flu in four years has hit California. The state Department of Public Health says five people under the age of 65 have been killed by influenza-related illnesses. A 22-year-old man and a 4-year-old girl who died earlier this month in Riverside county both tested positive for the virus - though the exact cause is not yet confirmed.
Officials say the flu is spreading rapidly, with the outbreak expected to peak in California next month. Federal officials say 48 states are reporting widespread flu activity. The severity of this year’s flu has prompted vaccine makers to create new and stronger immunizations that would protect against different strains of influenza. Current vaccines only protect from three kinds of flu, which this year is reportedly only 62 percent effective.
Should you get a flu shot? How many times a day should you wash your hands to stay reasonably safe? Is it silly or effective to wear surgical masks in public places? How can people die from a disease as common as the flu in 2013? And how do researchers create new vaccines to protect us from next year’s flu bug?
Guests:
Dr. Jonathan Fielding, Director, Los Angeles County Department of Public Health
Shannon Pettypiece, Bloomberg News Healthcare Correspondent
TSA to replace 'naked image' scanners
The TSA effectively has carte blanche to be all up in your junk, or to at least look at pictures of it, before you get on an airplane. But the federal agency announced on Friday that it will stop using the kind of x-ray body scanners that produced the anatomically revealing images of passengers at security checkpoints in airports.
The reason? The company that makes the scanners couldn’t find a software fix to bring the scanners in line with a congressional mandate to make the scanners less revealing of passengers’ body parts. The TSA says another kind of scanner, one that is less revealing in the images it captures, will remain in use.
Does this change the actual level of security at US airports? Why did the scanners need to capture such revealing images in the first place, if there are other scanners that manage to do the same job in a more modest manner? Are x-rays of the American public’s collective crotch really an effective deterrent to would-be terrorists?
Guests:
Michael Grabell, ProPublica reporter who covers travel and airport security.
Brian Michael Jenkins
, Senior Advisor to the President of the Rand Corporation and one of the nation's leading experts on terrorism and homeland security.
Patrick Smith, pilot, author of the book of Ask The Pilot (Riverhead Trade Paperback Original) and founder and editor of AskThePilot.com, a blog about air travel
The soundtrack for social change
During the 1963 March on Washington, folk, blues and gospel singer Odetta unleashed her melodic and powerful voice for the cause of civil rights. She is just one of the many artists who have used music as a force for social change.
Billie Holiday’s 1939 recording “Strange Fruit” was a groundbreaking statement against the horrors of Jim Crow, decades before the Black Power movement began to take shape. “A change is gonna come,” sang Sam Cooke in 1963, and those words played out throughout the decade. The musical revolution of the sixties mirrored the social revolution happening in the streets, as marchers protested the Vietnam War, women stood up for equality and the Stonewall Riots gave gays and lesbians a cause to rally around.
In the 1970’s and 80’s, punk rock and hip-hop carried the torch for social change forward, pointing a finger at all forms of social injustice and oppression. In her new book, Denise Sullivan shows how none of this would have been possible without the explosion of the Black Power movement, and how music helped fuel social change by bringing people together, lifting their spirits and giving them a common voice. But for artists whose bravery inspired a generation, there was often a cost. For many, their controversial stance meant diminished label support and a fading career.
Sullivan interviewed dozens of artists, including Len Chandler – who, along with Joan Baez and Bob Dylan, galvanized the crowd at the 1963 March on Washington – Buffy Sainte-Marie, Solomon Burke, Yoko Ono, Janis Ian and Richie Havens. And she asks the question, where have the voices of protest gone in today’s music? What forces – social, political and corporate – have conspired to silence the sounds of freedom, justice and equality?
Guest:
Denise Sullivan, author of Keep on Pushing: Black Power Music from Blues to Hip-Hop (Lawrence Hill Books), freelance writer and online columnist for Crawdaddy! Her previous books include Rip It Up! Rock ‘n Roll Rulebreakers and The White Stripes: Sweethearts of the Blues